Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire councils' Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor said that this year the scheme had once again proven to be a successful and worthwhile campaign with hundreds of free cups of tea and coffee being given to those travelling through our region.

"And it’s not too late to grab your free cuppa," Ms Suitor said.

This year’s scheme received great support and commitment from 70 businesses throughout the participating 15 Local Government Areas.  

Seventeen businesses from Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan shires have been taking part. 

Fatigue crashes accounted for more than 12 per cent of all crashes in the participating council areas over the last five years. These crashes resulted in 52 fatalities and 1284 injuries.

The scheme encourages travelling motorists to stop at participating businesses for a free cup of coffee or tea in order to take a break from driving long distances.

"Since the scheme's inception in 2010 more than 1,500 free cuppas have been given away by 150 participating businesses in 50 cities, towns and villages,” Ms Suitor said.

"This year there are 70 participating businesses, which is an amazing testament to the good will of businesses in our towns.”

Visiting drivers will need to produce their driver's licence to be entitled to their free cuppa and verify that they are not from the local area as a 100 kilometre exclusion zone applies. 

As an added incentive, participating drivers are eligible to go into the draw to win a GPS navigator and fuel vouchers to the value of $300.